


Hold on Tight

by maealbert



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Emily Prentiss - Freeform, Paget Brewster - Freeform, criminal minds - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:46:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28422651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maealbert/pseuds/maealbert
Summary: After being away on a case and seeing the grief of a woman who had recently lost her daughter, the same age as her own, Emily returns home to her daughter and holds her tightly in bed as she falls asleep. (based during season 3, episode 15)
Relationships: Daughter - Relationship, Mother - Relationship
Kudos: 3





	Hold on Tight

**Author's Note:**

> Sneak peek into Mother's Daughter (upcoming fic).

“Do you, uh, believe we may know this person?” A man speaks, as he holds his toddler son on his lap. His wife sat next to him. To Emily, she looked like she was in a completely different world or trying to pretend she wasn’t in this one.

“Yes, we do.” Emily responds.

The wife finally speaks up, but keeping her eyes focused somewhere else. “We just buried our daughter.”

“Yes, we know.” Emily says, realizing that for once she fully understands how it feels for a parent to lose their child, since her own daughter is roughly the same age. This couple, like the many in their community, lost a child or two in a fire at a local recreational center. The pain on this woman’s face was hard to look at for Emily.

Later that same night, Emily sits next to the same woman in the back of an ambulance. “You’re gonna be okay.”

“Am I?”

“Laurie Ann..” Emily sighs. “A mother isn’t supposed to outlive her children.”

Laurie Ann nods her head. “Yeah..”

“But she’s gone.. Allie’s dead..”

“Please… I don’t care anymore..”

“But your son does… Don’t lose him as well…”

She watches as the woman slowly turns her attention away from nothing and to her husband where he stood a short distance away holding their son. Emily took that opportunity to stand up and walk away.

After talking to Derek on the jet about the properties that he owns, Emily pulls out her phone and calls her daughter, only for it to go to voicemail. “Hey, you’ve reached Catie. Sorry I couldn’t answer your call, but please leave your name and message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

“Uh, hey.. It’s me.. You’re probably still asleep, but I uh, I just wanted to call and let you know that we’re on our way back from Pittsburgh.”

Getting back to the house, Emily steps inside to find it quiet. Leaving her things at the bottom of the stairs, she heads upstairs to the second floor. Quietly opening Catie’s bedroom door and walking over to the bed, she lifts up the covers and slips underneath. She wraps her around Catie and pulls her close.

“Mmm?” Catie moans as she opens her eyes to look up at Emily. “Mom?”

“Shh.. Go back to sleep..” Emily says.

Catie shakes her head as she pulls away from Emily. Knowing her mother, she knew something was wrong. “How old was she?” She asks.

Emily sighs. “Thirteen… She died previously in a fire… But still… All those parents lost a child.. And the unsub used that as a means to go after those parents.. He lost his own brother to suicide so he wanted to make those murders look like suicides too.”

Catie wrapped her arms around Emily. “Well I’m right here… I’m not dead..”

“No..” Emily says holding Catie tighter. “No, you’re not… I love you.” She says leaving a kiss on Catie’s forehead.

“I love you too.”

“Now go back to sleep.. It’s the weekend and I woke you.”

“I don’t care..” Catie says nuzzles her head into Emily’s chest. “I like it when you’re home.”

Emily chuckles. “Well I like it when I’m home too.”


End file.
